Not many of you may have heard about the term “calisthenics” growing up, although it is a term that is fast growing in popularity especially in urban areas like Singapore. Basically put, calisthenics is the art of mastering the movement of your body through gymnastic-like exercises by utilizing the environment around you. You may have seen some YouTube videos where some people have managed to achieve a ripped physique simply by doing exercises with their bodyweight. That is in essence what calisthenics is all about. In addition to that, calisthenics is a great investment because there is essentially no financial investment needed. You don’t need to spend money on a gym membership and all you need to do is get yourself on your feet to start working out! Without further ado, here are 4 other reasons why you should start doing calisthenics.
1) Better Physical Health
The reason why calisthenics promotes better physical health is that of the type of exercise you are doing. Bodyweight exercises are mostly resistance-like training. This involves a significant amount of cardiovascular work and would ultimately result in your heart rate increasing. This not only keeps your heart healthy but helps you to lose weight and build muscles over time. Imagine reaping all of this benefits without the need of spending a single cent. That should be the way when it comes to physical health!
2) Better Mental Health
If you’ve ever wondered why you felt better after exercising, the reason is that exercise helps to regulate the hormones in your body and even release the happy hormones - serotonin. Because of that, you can expect yourself to not only feel better immediately but also prevent long-term depression.
3) Proprioception
Now many of you may not have heard of proprioception but amongst those who do, it is an ability that is truly helpful in many areas of one's life. Proprioception is the ability to grasp the relative position of one’s body and strength while performing an action. This means knowing how much strength is needed to do a handstand, knowing how to control your body to ensure you stay upright, along with understanding how your body movement works to complete an action. With calisthenics, not only do you eventually start to gain an increase of your proprioception, but you begin to understand your own body and exert only necessary effort in the things you’re doing.
4) Neural Strength
The difference between calisthenics and normal weight lifting is that your body is able to quickly adapt and gain neural adaptation at a faster rate. When you exert effort from your muscles, this may not mean that the action is efficient and thus some strength may be lost in the process. Upon gaining neural adaptation from calisthenics, your body will understand how to make your movements more efficient and thus be able to exert more strength despite you having the same muscle mass. Not only is this helpful for those that wish not to have too much of a muscular built, but it allows you to be strong while being lean.